Q Grader Day 4: Green Coffee, Defects and the Cup

Bangkok, Thailand • September 2026

Day 4 of our Q Grader course took us beyond the cup and back to the coffee itself. Students examined green coffee, worked on defect recognition and connected those physical observations with cupping and quality evaluation.

A small defect can be easy to overlook when looking at a single bean. The classroom work asked students to pay closer attention to the raw material, then consider how what they observed before roasting might help them understand the coffee in the cup.

Green coffee examination and sensory evaluation belonged to the same conversation. The group looked, tasted, compared and questioned, building a more complete picture of coffee quality across green coffee, roasting, cupping and the decisions that follow.

Consistency remained part of the day’s work. Recognising a defect is one step; comparing observations and communicating an evaluation clearly are further skills to practise. The repeated exercises gave students another opportunity to calibrate with one another.

These photographs record a full day of close observation at Espresso Academic in Bangkok. Open the original album below to follow the physical assessment and cupping activities.